Ah, Winter Vacation.
Time to start going through the too many games I bought on the Steam Holiday Sale, and look askance at the Steam Winter Sale coming on its heels.
Except sometimes one or two of the sale games grab me so much that I don't get around to all of them. I can't complain.
The surprise hit for me was Infinite Space 3: Sea of Stars. The Infinite Space series is more of a series of remakes, like the Space Empires series, rather than whole new games. But I've enjoyed each of the earlier ones for several hours and several days, and if I'd seen the Kickstarter for this one I'd have backed it.
The big surprise when I tried it was its staying power. There are finally enough random things in the pool to be selected from that it took as long to feel like I'd found everything in this one as it had taken to wring the previous one dry entirely, and now I can still come back to try for a higher score on higher difficulty settings for a brief visit.
The briefness is one of the charms of the game, especially now with a preschooler breaking up my "me" time. A successful play-through is maybe half an hour; I can usually tell when I've drawn a bad setup much quicker.
There's also a lot of charm in the descriptions and narrative. Not silly or even overtly funny, but light-hearted and with lots of references for me as an older gamer and geek. Star system names like Asimov and Niven, but also Belushi, and even Oo-Topos (I doubt a gamer under 40 would have even heard of that game) and other fun things. Cargo/equipment items like the Star Mummy and the Piranha Bee, but also the Limited Vacuum Collapser (use with care and only in direst emergency). And of course the mighty Particle Vortex Cannon is back, though slightly toned down to only be the best weapon in the game instead of an instant I-win for every combat.
For a newcomer, there is also a fun bit of learning as you try out the few cargo items with an "Activate" button, and figure out the hidden uses of seemingly innocuous items if you happen to have them in your hold at the right moment.
I am really tired of the term "roguelike", because the genre has become the crutch of designers who can't come up with a plot or something original enough to keep people playing other than a high score table. But that said, it's actually an apt description for this game, which is original and predates the label.
Time to start going through the too many games I bought on the Steam Holiday Sale, and look askance at the Steam Winter Sale coming on its heels.
Except sometimes one or two of the sale games grab me so much that I don't get around to all of them. I can't complain.
The surprise hit for me was Infinite Space 3: Sea of Stars. The Infinite Space series is more of a series of remakes, like the Space Empires series, rather than whole new games. But I've enjoyed each of the earlier ones for several hours and several days, and if I'd seen the Kickstarter for this one I'd have backed it.
The big surprise when I tried it was its staying power. There are finally enough random things in the pool to be selected from that it took as long to feel like I'd found everything in this one as it had taken to wring the previous one dry entirely, and now I can still come back to try for a higher score on higher difficulty settings for a brief visit.
The briefness is one of the charms of the game, especially now with a preschooler breaking up my "me" time. A successful play-through is maybe half an hour; I can usually tell when I've drawn a bad setup much quicker.
There's also a lot of charm in the descriptions and narrative. Not silly or even overtly funny, but light-hearted and with lots of references for me as an older gamer and geek. Star system names like Asimov and Niven, but also Belushi, and even Oo-Topos (I doubt a gamer under 40 would have even heard of that game) and other fun things. Cargo/equipment items like the Star Mummy and the Piranha Bee, but also the Limited Vacuum Collapser (use with care and only in direst emergency). And of course the mighty Particle Vortex Cannon is back, though slightly toned down to only be the best weapon in the game instead of an instant I-win for every combat.
For a newcomer, there is also a fun bit of learning as you try out the few cargo items with an "Activate" button, and figure out the hidden uses of seemingly innocuous items if you happen to have them in your hold at the right moment.
I am really tired of the term "roguelike", because the genre has become the crutch of designers who can't come up with a plot or something original enough to keep people playing other than a high score table. But that said, it's actually an apt description for this game, which is original and predates the label.
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